Archive - May 9, 2009

Indie-pop at its finest. Cute-as-a-button couple/duo Mates of State, and their young friends The Black Kids decided to finish their co-headlining tour right here in Houston, TX. Warehouse Live hosted the two groups on a night that found the Mates of State closing things out. Fronted by the undeniably charismatic Reggie Youngblood, The Black Kids performed an hour-and-fifteen-minute set of pop gems that put a bouncy spring in the steps of the audience. After introducing some new material and receiving a healthy round of shots mid-set from Jason and Kori (Hammel and Gardner, respectively, of Mates of State), The Black Kids performed a slew of hits from their debut album, Partie Traumatic, including "Hurricane Jane," "Hit The Heartbrakes" and a rousing version of "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" that had MoS and the other openers Sunbears! taking the stage to support as backup dancers. It was short and sweet; not the most memorable performance, but good for what it was: a fun set of enjoyable pop songs.

Mates of State were next to hit the stage, bringing along 'acoustic metal' string duo Judgement Day to fill out their sound. Constantly staring at each other and giving adorable smiles throughout, Hammel and Gardner (married, but didn't change their names) played an equally entertaining set of pop tunes. While many of their songs start to sound quite similar after about an hour or so, standouts like "My Only Offer," "Get Better" and "Fraud in the '80s" are what made this group deserving of the final headlining spot on the month-long nationwide tour. The crowd that disappeared after hearing the last notes of The Black Kids set truly missed an opportunity to catch an impressive live band that is in the same vein as TBK's indie-pop genre.

After a quick encore break, MoS came back to the stage for an unique take on Tom Waits' "Long Way Home," before finishing off with a spirited version of "Goods (All In Your Head)" that had all three openers banging on water-soaked drums, screaming into the microphones and wreaking havoc upon the stage decorations. It was a fitting way to end the two-and-a-half hour dance-a-thon that we had all just been a part of.

Cereal brought her photography skills to the show, which you can peep – along with a bunch of videos – after the jump